The Art of Learning from a Colleague

I have a colleague in publishing who works many miles from me and has a different but overlapping area of editorial expertise. Recently, instead of doing a bit of freelance work for her independently and having her interpret it later, I suggested that, as an experiment, I do it live with her on the phone without either of us spending time in advance. Curious what the trial would yield, she agreed to it.

On the call, with the faint sound of her breathing as backdrop, I started to ask myself the same questions aloud that I would have asked alone in silence, commenting explicitly on each choice I made. She simply recorded my work quietly at first, but as she quickly became comfortable with the process, she began querying me as I went along and thereby refining my work in real time, rather than after the fact as she normally does. We eventually came to anticipate each other’s approaches so well that the process sped up as we progressed. Instead of my spending two hours and her spending a subsequent two, we spent a total of two together, each having gained insights that will improve my performance and hers in the future.

Indeed, my best learning experiences are when I get to see how someone else’s mind works. That usually doesn’t come with marveling at a finished document, presentation, or project. Nor does it come in typical collaboration venues, face-to-face or otherwise, where teams share ideas and figure out how to achieve common goals. Those learning opportunities have great value, there’s no question. But, for me, the real a-ha moments are the more intimate ones — when I witness a colleague’s thought processes in the raw, when she’s not in “collaboration mode” but in her own mode. Strange as it may sound, that means getting invited into her space — and inviting her into mine — to watch the wheels spin, to listen to them whir.

You don’t need high-tech imaging equipment to do that. A phone or a chair next to you will do. Of course, you shouldn’t just toil away in silence while your colleague stares blankly over your shoulder. That would be downright creepy — and a huge waste of time. Instead, identify a task of moderate length that your colleague can comfortably observe while you think aloud. The key, I’ve found, is to get past the initially awkward moments and ease into a semi-private speaking voice — one that helps you think through the task but that also eventually gives your colleague the room to participate without taking over.

My colleague and I managed to strike that balance, but we know it won’t work for every task we do. We simply seized on an opportunity where we strongly suspected that real learning could take place. And we were right! I’ve also done this successfully face-to-face and in situations where I was the secondary participant rather than the one leading. Clearly, trust is an essential component in this intimate learning endeavor, but if you have the chance to explore it, the payoffs can be substantial.

Have you ever tried this kind of collaboration? If not, can you imagine trying it with any of your colleagues?